The day got off to an inauspicious start when Mick Hoult locked his keys in his car, along with his bike and everything needed to race. Fortunately Dean Bourke saved the day with a short length of wire, showing hitherto unrevealed skills.

That little incident behind us, the racing got underway with the Juniors first up. Sam Jenner and Adam Bourke lined up against a field of half a dozen or so Tamworth riders, and the pace was on from the start. Both boys were looking comfortable, although Adam tailed off towards the end of the race. Given that this was his first time racing at this level it was a very creditable performance which will stand him in good stead for the future. Sam rode a very smart race and ended up winning with his trademark sprint.

Next up were Dave Jenner and Dean Bourke in a big C grade field. They also looked very comfortable, with Dave riding fourth wheel for the whole race until the last lap, when he powered his way to the front to take the win. Dean also rode very well to finish in third place.

The pressure was now on Lachie McPhie and Andrew Swan in B grade, and Lachie rose to the occasion admirably. The race stayed together until the last two laps when Graham Lewis of Tamworth attacked and built up a handy lead. Lachie set off in pursuit, and going into the last lap was holding onto third place. Mark Jarvis and Rick Maher were able to chase him down in the final lap, but Lachie was still able to hang on for fourth place.

In the final race of the day, Mick Hoult took on a very fast A grade field. Although appearing to struggle at times with some vicious attacks from younger legs, he got stronger the further the race went on. In the end he finished 5th against some quality opposition.

All up we acquitted ourselves well and had a very enjoyable day of racing, with the Tamworth club hosting a good event.

In a rather funny conclusion to the day, Dean showed that his extensive skill set doesn’t extend to navigation, when he turned right instead of left and headed halfway to Gunnedah before realising it wasn’t the way home.

Full results here:

The Mini Tour has now been replaced by the Autumn Festival Criterium on 21 March as the NIAS selection event.

Important

The Mini Tour will be the selection event for the 2010 intake of NIAS.

NIAS is offering its cycling program this year to U15 and U17 riders, again coordinated by Mark Bullen. Those wishing to apply should note that the deadline for applications is 2 March.

More information available from Mark or via the NIAS web site.

The big news was Sam Jenner becoming the latest member of the Sub 2 club, with a time for the one lap time trial of 2 minutes flat. Sam had been getting close for some weeks, and now that he has the monkey off his back will no doubt be flying in the 1:50’s.

Karlee McMillan came tantalisingly close with a time of 2:01, and there’s bound to be a big celebration when she finally makes it. Anytime in the next few weeks is my prediction, with the benefits of those Boorolong hills starting to pay off.

Other times were Ben Sullivan 2:25, Freya Weston 2:15, Adam Bourke 2:05, Jackie Weston 2:11, Kath Kelly 2:01, Reece O’Hara 1:58, Dene Bourke 1:56, and Kyle O’Hara fastest time with a 1:47. Good to see the O’Hara boys in their first outing for the year.

Next up was a 7 lap handicap, and following a pep talk from Al, there was some excellent aggressive racing.

Reece O’Hara quickly caught up with front marker Ben Sullivan and these two rode a good tempo out front. In the next group back, Sam Jenner rode away from Freya and Adam, while further back the remaining riders joined forces to try and peg back the lead.

They soon caught the all bar the leading pair, and Karlee tried her legs out in front with some impressive speed. With one lap to go, it seemed a certainty that they would catch Reece and Ben, but they weren’t having any of that.

Spurred on by Reece, Ben rode a great final lap to take the win. Judging by the way he rode back around on his cool down lap, he had left nothing in the tank.

The final event of the day was a one lap wheel race, which was won by Kyle O’Hara off scratch, with Karlee out sprinting Sam for second and third places and Freya in fourth.